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BEIJING, March 21 (TMTPOST)— PDD Holdings Inc., one of China’s largest e-commerce platforms just changed from the name Pinduoduo last month, expressed cautious attitude toward its cross-border unit Temu.

Source: Visual China

“Only half a year or so has passed since we has rolled out (Temu) in last September, and the business is still at an early stage, “the Chairman and CEO Chen Lei answered the question about progress in overseas expansion at an earnings call on Monday. Chen said his company would keep patient, constantly improve themselves, and strive to create the long-term value. Liu Jun, the vice president of finance, reiterated development of the cross border business is still at the initial period and added it just poses relatively little impact on the company’s performance in the last quarter of last year.

Chen’s remark was made when Temu was reported to soon expand in Australia and New Zealand, following its rapid expansion since launch in September in the United States. As of February 23, less than two weeks following its Super Bowl ad, Temu app attracted more than 40 million new downloads and maintained the first place as the most downloaded app on Apple App and Google Play stores in the U.S. for 69 days and 114 days, respectively, according to Temu’s pitch document for investment and merchants.

PDD posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results earlier Monday. The total revenue in the quarter ended December 31, 2021 increased 46% year-over-year (YoY) to RMB39.82 billion (US$5.773 billion), missing the analysts’ estimated RMB41.95 billion and weaker than growth of 65% in the previous quarter. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per American Depositary Shares (ADS) that quarter was RMB8.34, beating the analyst projection of RMB7.55, compared with RMB5.88 a year ago. Non-GAAP net income attributable to ordinary shareholders climbed 43.5% YoY to RMB12.11 billion.

PDD said the increase of revenue was primarily due to an increase in revenues from online marketing services and transaction services, partially offset by the decrease of revenues from merchandise sales. Online marketing services and others and transaction services generated sales of RMB30.965 billion andRMB8.797 billion, gaining 38% and 86% from a year earlier, respectively, while revenue from merchandise sales down 29% YoY to RMB58.2 million.  

Total operating expense grew around 58% YoY to RMB21.78 billion in the fourth quarter, including Sales and marketing expensesofRMB17.73 billion with a YoY increase of 56%, mainly due to the increased spending in promotion and advertising activities. Research and development expenses increased relatively less with a 19% YoY growth, primarily owing to an increase in headcount and the recruitment of more experienced R&D personnel and server cost.

“In 2022, we focused on strengthening our core capabilities to improve our technological know-how and bring the benefits of digitalization to society,” said Chen Lei. “As we enter the new year, we remain dedicated to creating value for all stakeholders through innovation.” Liu Jun noted PDD’s annual R&D spending exceeding RMB 10 billion as it continued technology focus. She vowed to further step up investments in technology to drive sustainable growth of her company.

It is notable that the quarterly results only covered the first few weeks of China’s phasing out “Zero Covid” policy, and PDD’s revenue growth was stronger than single-digit gains posted by its e-commerce peers JD.com and Alibaba. PDD didn’t disclose monthly and annual active users for three quarters in a row. American depositary receipts (ADRs) of PDD slumped about 14.2% to US$78.91 on Monday, the lowest close since November 29, 2022.